The cinematography really is amazing. I thought the bear was pretty damn impressive. 24 hours and I already don't remember the wolf. Remind me where it is. Glad you liked it MV. Very impressive experience for me.

The wolves were seen hunting buffalo and then again before DiCaprio's character meets the Pawnee man with the spotted horse.

I wondered what he was doing with the branch but as soon as they flipped to Hardy on the cliff I knew what he did. Pretty cool. I told my dad I knew they weren't letting us end this movie with Hardy getting shot. That fight was brutal.

I wondered what he was doing with the branch but as soon as they flipped to Hardy on the cliff I knew what he did. Pretty cool. I told my dad I knew they weren't letting us end this movie with Hardy getting shot. That fight was brutal.

Date Watched: 1/14/16Cinema or Home: HomeReason For Watching: Originally watched for Phoenix, just got the blu rayRewatch: Yes

This is the third Allen film I've seen (or at least the third one I've seen all the way through) and I can't say I'm a fan of his work. I am, however, a fan of this tale of a depressed, alcoholic philosophy professor named Abe Lucas (played by Joaquin Phoenix) who finds his will to live in an unexpected way. And no, that will to live is not found in his affair with his lovestruck student, played by Emma Stone. He finds it in his plan and execution of the perfect crime, reveling in the thrill and danger of it all.

I normally find narration and voiceovers irritating, but in this film it works perfectly as the audience watches Lucas's world spiral out of control while his mind races with absurdly excited thoughts. And the deeper in he gets the more comical it becomes.

It's been asked of me if I think I would have enjoyed this movie as much had the lead been played by someone else and that's a question I can't answer. In all likelihood, I'd never have watched it had it starred another actor. I can say though that I loved everything about Phoenix's character and performance. I really enjoyed Emma Stone as well.

Is this movie over-the-top to the point of being silly? You betcha. Is this movie full of cliches and hammy performances? Yep. Does that bother me? Not one damn bit. This is one hell of a fun adventure flick and is largely responsible for my love of movies. It's been a favorite of mine for 25 years now and I don't see that ever changing.

Besides starring the two biggest celebrity crushes of my childhood - Kevin Costner and Christian Slater - it also features my all time favorite movie villain in Alan Rickman's deliciously evil Sheriff of Nottingham. He chews up the screen and has a blast and I'm right there having a great time with him even after all these years. And even more so with this viewing of the extended edition, with much of the additional footage featuring Nottingham.

Is this movie over-the-top to the point of being silly? You betcha. Is this movie full of cliches and hammy performances? Yep. Does that bother me? Not one damn bit. This is one hell of a fun adventure flick and is largely responsible for my love of movies. It's been a favorite of mine for 25 years now and I don't see that ever changing.

Besides starring the two biggest celebrity crushes of my childhood - Kevin Costner and Christian Slater - it also features my all time favorite movie villain in Alan Rickman's deliciously evil Sheriff of Nottingham. He chews up the screen and has a blast and I'm right there having a great time with him even after all these years. And even more so with this viewing of the extended edition, with much of the additional footage featuring Nottingham.

I spent the whole movie with one big grin on my face.

+

This was on the first list I made around here. I need to rewatch it because it has been a very long time and I kind of let it leave my mind over the past few years. By far the most I have ever liked Rickman, one of my favorite villains ever.

Okay, so - like pretty much every romantic comedy ever made - this movie has a really absurd premise: A spoiled, rich woman hires a carpenter to remodel the closet on her yacht, then refuses to pay when his work doesn't meet her expectations. Later she falls off the boat and is rescued, but has amnesia and can't remember who she is. Meanwhile her husband, seeing the opportunity to rid himself of her, flees and the carpenter (who is a widower) decides to get a little payback by posing as her husband so that he can get her to work off what she owes him.

He brings her to his house where she is made to cook, clean, look after his dogs and his four unruly children, and wait on him hand and foot. Eventually he and his sons grow fond of her and she, believing them to be her real family, grows to love them too and even has sex with the man she's been tricked into believing is her husband.

Sounds more like a horror movie than a romance, right? Well it actually has a certain sweet charm to it and real life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell have more than enough chemistry to make you believe it. It also has nostalgia on its side, at least for me, since I grew up watching it. I do have to wonder though how a movie like this would fair if it were released in today's ultra P.C., feminist environment.